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If anyone had a case for saying their job made them mad it would be MPs.

They work long hours in an unnatural environment surrounded by Alpha personality types knowing every misstep is likely to end up in the media. Most have to live away from their families and when they go home they have to deal with electorate duties. Even Wellington based MPs spend a lot of time travelling round the rest of the country – and further afield.

To make matters worse they’re surrounded by people who are may be as much rivals as allies and not all your enemies are on the other side.

It’s a high pressured and unnatural life and it would be understandable if that had an detrimental impact on their mental health.

The personal attacks on Carter and the innuendo around his mental health reflect very poorly on Labour in our humble opinion.

This isn’t the first time Labour, which prides iteslf on its sensitivity, has been less than sensitive over mental illness. Regardless of my state of mind, that strategy would definitely make me mad – at least in the sense of being furious.

It’s behind the pay-wall or in the print edition so I’ll restrict the copy and paste to the opening paragraphs:

It may surprise some people that, despite perceptions to the contrary, wealth is no easy come, easy go phenomenon. Of course, there are exceptions, such as those who have heavily borrowed to create property empires.

You will find a few have dropped off this year’s Rich List but others have joined. The country is not littered with abandoned mansions, repossessed yachts and collapsed businesses.

If you think being equally poor is better than being unequally rich you won’t be cheered by that. But if you realise that you don’t help the poor by hurting the rich this is encouraging.

It means most of our wealth generators have got through the recession relatively unscathed which is good for them and gives a glimmer of hope for the wider economy.

Another positive sign is the growth of wealth earned from intellectual property and ideas. Those are both assets which generally aren’t disadvantaged by our geographic isolation.

The hard work most of the rich listers undertook to earn, and retain, their wealth isn’t detailed but there is information on their philanthropic activities which reflects well on their generosity.

The list doesn’t purport to be exhaustive but even so I’m always surprised by how few farmers appear on it.

That could be because farming wealth may be in the hands of individuals, families, trusts or private companies and therefore harder to calculate.

It could also mean, that in spite of fears that corporate farming is taking over the country, the family farm is still alive and well – if not making enough to earn its owners a place on the rich list.

No-one in caucus that I know thinks that anyone could do a better job than Phil has done. I think many of us know it’s going to be hard to win the next election. But it’s possible and Phil is the person who can do that and no-one else can.

When a senior MP says that Labour’s unlikely to win and if Goff can’t lead Labour to an election victory no-one else it’s hardly likely to inspire voter confidence in the party regardless of whoever is leading it next year.

1777 The U.S. Second Continental Congress passed a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette “be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States.”

1790 First U.S. patent was issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.

1936 The International Olympic Committee announced that the 1940 Summer Olympics would be held in Tokyo. However, the games were given back to the IOC after the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and are eventually cancelled altogether because of World War II.

1938 Bulgaria signed a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).

1938 Archaeologists discovered engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius in Persepolis.

1941 Holocaust: under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to “submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question.”